By some estimates, nearly seventy percent (70%) of corporate data in the United States and abroad resides on mainframe computers, e.g., S/390 mainframes manufactured by International Business Machines. Moreover, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is expected to grow at least five times faster than the rate of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. Many transactions involving this corporate data, e.g., bank account data, insurance data, inventory data, archival data, etc. can be initiated by Windows/NT servers, UNIX servers, and other servers but the transactions must be completed on the mainframe using existing legacy applications residing thereon, e.g., information management system (IMS) applications.
Much of this information can be accessed via the Internet using computers. In many cases, the information is accessed and/or updated using a “commit-then-send” process. In a “commit-then-send” process, an IMS server receives an input message from a web client computer. The IMS server processes the input message and completes the change or update requested by the input message. After the input message is processed, the IMS server sends a transaction output to the web client computer. The web client computer does not have an option to commit or backout.
Another process that can be used to access and/or update the IMS information is the “send-then-commit” process. In this process, an IMS server receives an input message from a web client computer. The input message is processed at the IMS server and the resulting output transaction is sent to the web client computer. The web client computer then indicates whether or not to commit to the update or change of the data managed by the IMS server. If commit is indicated, the changes are made permanent. On the other hand, if a backout is indicated, the changes are not made. A typical “send-then-commit” transaction request is processed in only one IMS server. Currently, no method has been provided by which a “send-then-commit” transaction request can be processed simultaneously in two or more IMS servers in order to balance the workload.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method which will allow “send-then-commit” transaction requests to be processed in multiple IMS servers.